A household appliance, such as a clothes washer, generally includes a door that covers an opening for accessing the interior of the appliance. Such clothes washers commonly include a housing, a rotating drum disposed within the housing, and a driver device for driving the rotating drum. In operation, the door of the appliance is opened and clothes or laundry are inserted into the washer through the opening and placed in the rotating drum and the door is then closed.
Front-load clothes washers, which have a door positioned on the front of the appliance, have become increasingly popular in recent years for household use. The door commonly includes a glass bowl that permits the user to view or inspect inside the washing machine while the door is closed. The conventional glass bowl commonly includes a base portion for securing the glass bowl to the door and a bowl portion extending into the interior of the drum of the washer when the door is in the closed position.
An example of a conventional door assembly for a washer is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/533,038, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the illustrated door assembly is shown for exemplary purposes only and other arrangements of the door assembly are possible.
For example, with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B, a conventional door assembly for a household appliance, such as a washer, may include, for example, an inner (first) door frame 60, a glass bowl 70, and an inner ring (or second door frame) (not shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B) that is covered by, or integrally formed with, a front cover 80.
As shown in FIG. 12, the door frame 60 can have a substantially circular shape when viewed from the front. However, other shapes are possible. The door frame 60 commonly includes an opening 62 that corresponds to a see-through portion 14 of the washer door 100, as exemplarily illustrated in FIG. 1. The opening 62 can have, for example, a circular or oval shape, as illustrated, as well as other shapes. The opening 62 can be centered (e.g., concentric) within the door frame 60, or off-center. For example, FIG. 12 illustrates a center of the opening 62 that is offset from, or above, a center of the door frame 60 such that a distance from the opening 62 to the outside edge of the door frame 60 is greater at the bottom portion of the washer door 100 than at the top portion of the washer door 100. The door frame 60 may include a rib pattern to stabilize and strengthen the door frame 60. The features of the door frame 60, such as fastener or screw points, can be configured to correspond to the features of the other components of the washer door, such as an inner ring (not shown) or an outer cover (not shown). The door frame 60 can include hinge pockets 66 for receiving a hinge (not shown) and a portion 68 for engaging a door hook or latch (as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B). The door assembly also includes a door hook or latch 90 for engaging a latch receptacle (not shown) on the housing 12 of the washer 10 and securing the door in a closed position.
As shown in FIG. 13, a conventional glass bowl 70 can include a base portion and a bowl portion. The base portion can include a flange 76 that extends radially from the bowl portion in a plane that corresponds to a plane of the door when in an assembled position. The bowl portion commonly includes a sidewall 72 extending from the base portion toward the interior of the washing compartment of the washer 10. The bowl portion commonly includes a face 74 that faces toward the interior of the washing compartment of the washer 10 in the assembled position.
The glass bowl 70 commonly is assembled with the door frame 60 by inserting the bowl portion into the opening 62 of the door frame 60. In the assembled position, the flange 76 of the glass bowl 70 engages a ring portion of the door frame 60, while the face 74 and sidewall 72 of the bowl portion extend into the interior of the washing compartment of the washer 10. In this manner, the glass bowl 70 provides means for viewing or inspecting the interior of the washer 10.
In the conventional door assembly shown in FIGS. 11A-13, the flange 76 of the glass bowl 70 is press-fit between the door frame 60 and an inner ring (not shown). In this manner, the glass bowl 70 simply is held in place by the door frame and inner ring, and the forces acting on the door frame or inner ring are not transferred to the glass bowl. This is similar to other conventional door assembly designs in which the flange of the glass bowl rests or is press-fit into a groove or seating rib formed on the door frame to hold the glass bowl in place. In these cases, the forces acting on the door frame or inner ring are not transferred to the glass bowl.
In operation, the appliance door, such as the washer door, can be pivoted about a hinge from an open position to a closed position covering the opening of the appliance housing and latched in the closed position for operation of the washer.
Over time, a conventional appliance door commonly may change position from an original position of the door with respect to the washer housing. This change in position can affect the operation of the door, and more particularly, the closing action of the door and the alignment of a door latch with a latch receptacle on the housing. For example, the appliance door may begin to sag (i.e., move or sink to a lower position or angle from the original position) as a result of forces being applied to the door, such as the weight of the door itself, the weight of individual components of the door assembly, and/or as a result of other forces, such as a user leaning on the door, laundry being hung over the door, etc., among other things.